Emotional Processing Debt: 3 Yoga Tricks to Reduce Debt
Emotional Processing Debt: 3 Yoga Tricks to Reduce Debt
Too many times over the last few years, I’ve been hit with news and events that are so hard to comprehend that I refuse to process them. I go into a denial state where I actively feel my brain turn away from exploring the barbs too deeply. I am speaking to my own experience, but I know I am also speaking for many of you.
But they don’t go away. The processing becomes like a constant low grade fever. It is exhausting.
A reminder: that exhaustion is real. The coping is real. And it accumulates.
In technology, we talk about technical debt. You build up debt by ignoring bugs or defects, choosing fast but sloppy solutions, prioritizing incorrectly. You create a backlog list of things to be done later. Sometimes you leave things on the backlog, because it is the best decision at the time. Over time, the more debt, the harder to fix.
I am accumulating Emotional Processing Debt. And that backlog is about to topple.
So, how do you begin to burn down that emotional backlog? How do you manage to stop piling onto the debt? For me, that has looked like leaning into my yoga & meditation practice.
1. Learn to Stay. I used to hate yoga. I felt impatient, and bored. How and what changed for me is a longer exploration, but a key shift for me was learning what it looks like to be unafraid to stay in a hard moment. One morning when we were setting our intention for our practice, my yoga instructor said that when things get tough, society teaches us to tense up to fight, or to run away. Yoga teaches us to stay, even in the hard moments, to breath. This was a revelation to me.
When things get too hard, or I determine the return on my energy is low, I often walk way. Energy conservation has been a skill that has protected me and served me. But at times, it also means I eject before I get the satisfaction of fully changing the tide around me. Or, before I really process what I am feeling.
Honor yourself, absolutely. Protect and defend yourself, absolutely. Also, be okay with choosing to sometimes stay in the hard moments, and know you are safe there. You can do good work in those moments. Inertia can sweep you along; showing up when times are good is easy. If you can be the kind of person who leans in when things are hard, you will never regret whatever comes next.
How? Whether it is the more obvious challenge of a posture, or the more subtle repression of response to an emotional piece of news, try using your breath to let the hard thoughts and feelings come. One of my favorites is Square Breathing. Think of it as 4 sides to a square, where you inhale, hold full at the top of the breath, exhale, and hold empty at the bottom. I like to use a count of 4 for each side of the square.
2. Body Scan for Hiding Places. When we are children, there is a stage of cognitive development where we learn object permanence. It is when peek-a-boo stops being fun. We learn that just because we can’t see something, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. The same is true for our Emotional Processing Debt. All of that emotion, anxiety, untended response doesn’t simply evaporate when we ignore or repress it. It goes somewhere.
Where are you holding that backlog in your body? For me, it is often in my upper back, shoulders, neck, and hips. They hold tension, feel sticky, tight, and guess what? Our bodies are like intricately made clocks with fully connected gears and cogs. So if one gear is sticky and clogged up, it can impact every other part of that system. Where is your mind so cleverly stuffing all of the things it doesn’t want to see? Figure out the hiding places in your body, and intentionally unpack what is being stored there.
How? Try a full body scan. Lay flat on your back, or in a comfortable seated position, and beginning with your toes, mentally scan each part of your body until your reach the top of your head. Notice as you scan, where does it feel tight? Where do you notice you are clenching? You might even find that topics and emotions start jumping out at you, eager to be seen. Identify your body’s unique hiding places, and focus your movement and breath on those areas, for a few minutes or a full practice. Here's one of my favorite meditation apps: FitMind.
3. The World Turned Upside Down. Yes, a delicious Hamilton nod, but also a real technique based on science (& my personal anecdotal experiential data!) that says getting upside down can help regulate body & mind. Being inverted stimulates our vestibular system, which is involved with our motor skills, posture, nervous system, amongst other things. Our vestibular system can be under or over stimulated, and is connected to various sensory issues.
As a child, I found comfort by laying my head off the edge of the bed, and as an adult, my inversion practice is one of the most transformative parts of my yoga experience. In studio classes, I no longer feel self-conscious when the instructor cues to take what you need in a wide legged fold, or towards the end of class - I pop right into that headstand. Where I might have previously worried it looked striving or showy, now I know that it actually IS what I need. After a few intentional breaths in any inversion, and I feel like a new, clear-headed person when I return right-side up.
Regulating your nervous system, providing a calm mind, and maybe also relieving some pressure from the upright force of gravity we experience 99% of our lives are all benefits to processing that emotional debt.
How? Handstands, forearm stands, headstands… yes, for sure, all of that. But, if you want something simpler - try resting on your back with your legs up a wall for support. Or, from standing, fold over your torso over your bent knees, thinking belly to thighs, and let your upper body and arms hang heavy like a rag doll. Be like a kid, and just hang your head off the bed or sofa. Inversions do not need to be complicated; they simply need to enable your circulation to use gravity in a different way. The only rule is you need to be able to breath comfortably.
Read more about the vestibular system here: https://neuroscientificallychallenged.com/posts/know-your-brain-vestibular-system
For me, honestly appraising and being aware of this Emotional Processing Debt, naming it, has already been quite an achievement. Using these various tools individually, or even better together!, is helping me to process in small parcels, and reducing how much I am adding to the existing backlog as those heavy things come up. Be gentle and patient with yourself, and start burning down that emotional backlog.
I’d love to hear if these tools also help you, or other healthy ways you are processing emotional debt.
Stephanie Trunzo